Oneirology 101
by Talye Kendrin
Summary: A series of one-shots/drabbles featuring Abed and Sophie (OC) role-playing in the dreamatorium. I suggest reading Studies in Centrifugal Motion for familiarity with Sophie first, but it's not required to understand these.
1. Chapter 1

"**It's Your Night"**

* * *

Sophie, dressed as Catwoman, gave out a little squeak as she hung from a second-storey balcony. Squeezing her eyes shut tight, she finally felt her hold on the balcony railing give out completely. For a brief moment, she could feel her stomach lurch as she felt like she'd left it behind while the rest of her plummeted towards the ground, but then...it stopped. Realizing the sensation of a pair of arms supporting her in a bridal-style hold, she cautiously opened one eye to peek out at her surroundings before opening the other one as well. The sight that met her when she turned her head made her tense a bit.

"Fancy meeting you here," Abed, dressed as Batman, said as he held her up.

Sophie feigned righteous indignation. "Take your hands off me, Bat!" she huffed. However, she ended up getting a little more than she'd bargained for... when Abed promptly dropped her on her ass.

"_Ouch!_ Damn it! Do you treat all the ladies like that?" she asked as she stood up, rubbing her sore tailbone. "Geez, no wonder your _other half_ isn't married..."

"And what exactly do you mean by that?" he asked in his gravely voice. "Your..._other half_...isn't exactly the most romantic person either."

"Hmph," she smirked. "You and I both know that we just don't like to be burdened with too many...attachments," she said, placing her hand on his chest and getting right up in his personal space in order to try and evoke some kind of reaction from him, "outside of our...line of work."

Abed's face remained stoic. "That's where you and I are different, actually. I form real attachments through my _other half_, as it were, in order to gain comrades with similar beliefs to mine, and rally them to the cause. Whereas you, you form false attachments through your other half, in order to gain financial and vital security against those who would use you...sometimes even through those who would use you themselves." He noticed Sophie's pout at the lack of physical reaction from him due to her closeness, and leaned in ever so slightly. "It's quite cunning."

Sophie leaned in to the point where her lips were almost brushing against his as she spoke.

"You think that's cunning?" She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "_You ain't seen nothing yet_."

Grabbing him by the belt he wore that held his batarangs, Sophie pulled him forward into a deep, heated kiss. Their tongues moved against one another's as Abed held the sides of Sophie's face to keep her close in an effort to deepen the kiss more yet, and Sophie's hands glided around to his sides and then his back. Just as she felt she needed to part for air or suffocate from the heat and the lack of oxygen, she smirked into the kiss as a naughty thought entered her mind, and she let her right hand wander down until—

_Heh. I just goosed Batman. Well, this is certainly a story to tell the grandchildren..._ she thought, as Abed jumped a bit from the unexpected pinch, breaking the kiss.

_Click._

"What have you done?" Abed growled, as he noted the pair of handcuffs that now chained his left wrist to the bike rack they'd been standing next to.

"Oh, nothing I'm certain you can't get out of, given you use that _fabulous_ brain of yours," she said with an exaggerated wink. She grinned and purred, "Well, Bats... it's been a real pleasure. Catch you later!" And with that, she skipped off down the street and around the corner.

Abed watched as she went, a part of him hoping she got home safely, and another, larger part of him wondering where the hell she had been keeping those handcuffs that he hadn't even noticed them on her. Especially in that skin-tight cat suit... He shook his head to try and clear it and focus on the matter at hand, being that he was currently chained to a bike rack and didn't exactly fancy spending the night outside in the cool spring air with nothing on but his surprisingly not-very-warm Batsuit. Now, what was it she had said before she left? _'Nothing I'm certain you can't get out of, given you use that fabulous brain of yours'?_ Well, he started taking inventory of what all she had done while they had been kissing first, and...

"The belt!" he murmured in a 'eureka' sort of way. Checking the pouch she had grabbed him by when she pulled him into the kiss, he grinned as his fingers clenched around a key. "You sly cat, you." Quickly unlocking the cuffs, he stared at the cuffs and key for a moment before pulling out his phone from a different pouch on his belt and shooting off a text to Sophie.

**You know I'm going to be keeping these for next time, right?**

Her response was almost immediate:

_I wouldn't have it any other way. ;)_

* * *

**A/N:** Originally a couple of these one-shots were written as though they were role-playing outside of the dreamatorium rather than inside it. My apologies if parts of it don't quite seem to 'fit'. I hope you enjoy the one-shots despite that.


	2. Chapter 2

"**Know By Now"**

* * *

Sophie, dressed as Batgirl, was knelt by the edge of the building's flat gravel roof, looking out over the city, watching for any sign of crime. Not that she could actually do anything about it if she saw it happening except call the police station, but it was for the sake of proper role-play. She made sure not to flinch when she heard the telltale crunching of gravel signalling the approach of another person from behind her post.

"What? Too quiet for you in the western part of town?" she asked in a flippant tone as she adjusted her binoculars to zoom in further on a window with suspicious movement behind the curtain, before quickly directing her binoculars elsewhere when she realized what the two people inside were really doing, feeling her cheeks heat up with the realization.

"Well, that's part of it. But mostly I just wanted to visit my favorite redhead."

Sophie raised an eyebrow, stating coolly, "I thought _Raya_ was your favorite redhead. After all, you two are together, aren't you?"

"_Were_, B-girl." Abed sighed. "This kind of life...Raya wasn't ready for it. I don't think she'll ever be ready for it. So I had to break it off." Stepping forward so he was beside Sophie, he crouched down next to her, grabbing up a handful of gravel and slowly sifting them between his fingers. "It's kind of lonely, this existence of ours, isn't it?"

Slowly, Sophie lowered the binoculars from her eyes. "Yeah," she mumbled. It was true.

They were both silent for a moment, just appreciating one another's company, when Abed turned to look at Sophie and said, "Y'know B-girl...it doesn't have to be lonely."

Sophie could've sworn she almost got whiplash from how quickly her head turned at that statement. She stared wordlessly at Abed for a long moment before saying, "Di-er, Nightwing... I thought we discussed this before. I thought we'd decided that despite, or in part even due to, our past, it would be...unwise to pursue a relationship between the two of us."

Abed exhaled through his nose, folding his arms on top of his knees. "As I recall, B-girl, that was more of a one-sided decision on your part than anything that had to do with my contribution to the conversation..."

Sophie winced. "But you have to realize, I'm only thinking of what might happen to us in the long-term and why it'd be so bad for us to be together despite the fact that we're both vigi-_mmph!_" She was silenced as Abed's lips met hers, and she all but melted, cheeks hot as she felt Abed's tongue touch against her lips as though asking permission to deepen the kiss. She complied, knowing it wasn't exactly what might have happened in the comics due to the many writers who had been against the Dick-Barbara relationship and the fact that in the original comics, Barbara had been older than Dick, but she honestly felt that in that moment, even if it was only because it was her and Abed playing the roles, it just felt..._right_. Gingerly placing her left hand on the side of Abed's neck, she let out a muffled noise of surprise when a moment later he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close. Kneeling on the ground was by no means comfortable for her, nor could she imagine it was comfortable for Abed, either, but the passionate intensity of the kiss all but drowned the sensation out.

When they broke apart for air, Abed quickly leaned forward to capture another kiss, but Sophie turned her head and Abed's kiss landed on her cheek, instead.

"I'm sorry, Dick. I shouldn't have let that happen," she said softly, with a hint of regret in her voice.

Abed was silent for a long moment before he removed his hands from her waist and stood up. He sighed.

"I'm sorry too, Babs," he said, turning to exit the roof via the same stairwell he had come up to it through. Before he stepped onto the stairwell, though, he turned slightly and called back over his shoulder to her, "And for the record...even when I was with Raya... you were still my favorite redhead."

With that, Abed left, hoping that Sophie got home alright, and also hoping that a situation similar to this role play would never, ever happen in real life, because even as it was, he felt his heart clench a little when she refused him despite the fact that she had referred to him as Dick instead of Abed.

That night, he dreamt of Sophie and him together. And when he woke up, he hoped that that would remain his reality for the rest of his life.

* * *

**A/N:** My apologies if you follow the Batman 'verse comics and I have anything out of place... I did some research for these one-shots since I only started collecting them after the New 52 reboot started but it's possible I may have missed some facts. If you find any mistakes be sure to let me know and I will do my best to correct it.


	3. Chapter 3

"**Mayday"**

Abed was shuffling a pack of cards absent-mindedly, humming a random tune under his breath when the click of high heels approaching sounded behind him. He gave a cruel-sounding laugh, as though at nothing, but didn't turn.

"You're late!" he barked suddenly, and the clicking stopped for a moment before starting back up, quicker this time as the wearer rushed towards him.

"Sorry, Mistah J," Sophie said in a rush when she came up beside him, decked out in her classic Harley Quinn costume. "I got caught up in traffic...if ya know what I mean." She grinned mischievously.

"Well, seeing as there's this fancy new _in-ven-shun_ called the, uh, _radio_," Abed said as though he were trying to explain it to a four-year-old, "yeah, I know exactly wha_t_ you, ah, mean." With this, he turned to grin at her with his painted face, the trademark glasgow smile of the Joker slathered with clown makeup beaming over at her.

Sophie returned the grin with ease. "You saw my handiwork, Mistah J?" she asked, beaming with pride.

Abed let out a bark of derisive laughter. "It's called a radio, silly _kid_." (Sophie pouted at being called a kid.) "You don't exactly, uh, see things on a radio, now, _do ya?_"

Sophie mumbled something unintelligible under her breath.

"What was tha_t?_" Abed asked sharply.

Sophie sighed. "I said, _no, Mistah J_," she replied.

"Good girl. Have a treat," he said, patting her head and tossing her a wrapped chocolate he'd had in his pocket. She caught it with a look of delight and ate it without a moment's hesitation.

"Fank yew, Mustah J," she said, her words muffled by the piece of chocolate in her mouth.

"Let nobody say I'm not kind to...well..._you_, on occasions," he said with a shrug as he took out a prop (at least, she sincerely hoped it was a prop) knife from the inside pocket of his overcoat and started twirling it expertly between his fingers. "Well, sweet lips, it's about time to get this show on the road," he said, placing an arm around her shoulder. "Wanna grab a, ah, burger on the way there?" he said, referring to their latest play to lure out the Bat.

Sophie smirked. "We-e-ell, that all depends, Mistah J... can I get a side order of _freedom fries _with mine?"

Abed threw his head back as they walked and cackled. "Well, toots, I think that sounds like a _fan-tas-tic_ idea." His tone was tinged with wicked amusement. "How about we celebrate with... _fireworks?_"

Sophie winked. "It's like you read my mind, Mistah J!"

* * *

**A/N:** Not fluffy or flirty at all, but I couldn't resist the idea of writing Abed as the Joker after I saw the picture of the Community members as Batman villains. If you want to see it just search "Community Abed Joker" in Google images.


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